Anti-creeper for railway rails



July 12, 1960 F. S. SCHWINN ANTI-CREEPER FOR RAILWAY RAILS Filed Nov. 23, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FREDERICK S.ScHw|N- July 12, 1960 F. s. SCHWINN 2,944,739

ANTI-CREEPER FOR RAILWAY RAILS Filed NOV. 23, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E 6 /26 n 22 I 11. I

. INVENTOR.

FREDERICK S. SCHWINN BY M? if? -2 ,944,139 I ste J i": 1

. "2944739 ANTI-CREEPER FORRAILWAY RAILS' Frederick 4118 Lane, 25, Tex. Filed New, 19:56;l=S er.No. 6i4 ,rz4i ZClaims. (crass-2 17 I This invention relates torailway rail antiereepers of g 10 7 against the web ofthe rail and against the inner face of said tie plate -shoulder., If only one spring clip is used upper and lower jaws which embrace portions of the rail and the 'tie;plate and clamp them together. ,The lower jaw fits into a recessformed 'on the bottom surface of thejt'ie plate and theupper jaw is made slightly longer than the distance between the vertical central web of the and. the innerface of an adjacent shoulder on the plate. The central portion of the upper jaw is bowed V upwardly relative; to the rail so that when the upper the general'class which includes a tie plate and. spring in an improved mannerto rprevenfniovement ofthen ail laferallyof thetie plate. 5 1-.

.A' more specific object is toi provide certainlimproved constructions of the tie plate and -sprin'gclip assembly'a disclosed in my prionsUnited- States Patent- No whereby; the :spring clip; when: iniitsilapplied exert a rv'erticalgclampingactidn towh "1d 11 3 0 '3 y a th 1 tie iplate and :which will also exert pressure' flat jaw isforced to its applied position, said upwardly bowed portion is distortedsuffieiently to exert lateral pressure for eachtie plate'the plate in such case is arranged with oneflof its shoulders in; abutting engagement with the adjacent edge of the rail base and theclip is applied at the-other side of the rail. The pressure exerted lengthwise'of the upper jaw of the clip forces the base portion of the rail firmly against the first mentioned tie plate shoulder. However; when two spring clips are used, as shown in the drawings, the pressures exerted by the upper jaws of said clips serve to hold the rail centered on the rail seat portion of the tie plate. The resilient pressure exerted lengthwise of the jaws of the clips exert lateral pressures between the central web of the rail and the tie plate shoulders at opposite sides of the rail. This a force, in addition to preventing lateral movement of the of .the rail to maintain it in.:.aafixed 12QS ,t. .Q .':jQ hew ie plate.

. Inian assembly structure of the above general class,

particularly the structure shown inniy said. P or patent,

the. tie plate element is forrned with spaced apart should:

ers;which.'define a seat 'forthebase portion of the rail;

'I'helwidth of such seat mustlbe slightly greater than the maximum width of overs-ized -rVail;= bases,--;such as are fonnedafter the formingqsurfaces of the-rolls used to produce the; rails ;havebecome worn; Because of the trail relative to the plate also functions to prevent lengthwise creeping movements of the rail.

r [The jinvention is-illustrated in certain preferred eni bodinlents in the accompanying drawings wherein; 1 f e 1 ap n iv ewo a. ti plate nd, i reta nin clip assernbly' onstructed I in accordance with the present looking. in; the? di-rectiondndicated by .;the arrows t 3 i a wiew i -pe p iv o i he t ep a m o t a se b y; 1:;

;;: --4 is a me t ry r sim lar f f i jasi t f s:

' 2 ;b .t; s r n he s a par o t e ass mb yfq i a larger scaleflso as tobetter illustratertheclearanoe be w n the. a e-. n f abu t n tsh ls rof the j tie plate and also better illustrate "the preferred conclearance "of requirements and manufacturing tolerances, 1 5

in the production of railway rails and shouldered tie. plates of the. above character, there maybe a'clearance of A6" to between each shoulder of the tie plate 1 [and the iadjacent edge 1 of the -baseportion of 'a' railway rail wheniithe latter isflseated in a central position on the plate. If the .rail'is arranged Zinclosev engagement with :one shoulder of-thetii plate, theclearance between the rail-base and the other shoulder is. proportionately increased: Under such. conditions-the rail has'eapacityfor maximum movement of approximately to ii laterallyof the tie plate; Inasmuch as the spring clipelements of the; assembliesheretofore known are; designed toern bIElCiPOI'fiQIlS'Of the rail base and tie plate and frictionallyzgrip them by means of vertical pressureonly and are i interloekedwith the tie plate ;or'otherwise held in fixed- 7 relation thereon, any lateral movementrof the rail base. imaidirection away from such; clip; partially withdraws thewinclined surface of the raiLbaSe from. beneath the clamping jaw of the clip 'and therehy' relieves the tension and consequently; the gripping action'of such clip According to the present -inventiomijthe spring clips are formed to over come the above objections. [Each clip is formed from a strip of metal of uniform width by hendin g itintern ediateits ends t'o'form: a relatively large 1 loop, the end po-rtions of the 'metal st'rip constituting 7' PQ' t Q' 2,i f f r r frai i p s n d The. spacing. between; the abutment. shoulders iso"as rose-estuarine rail bases 'of oversized widths,

' our he upp j o rt e rail a sl' p an it manner in which it engages the'base portion o-f the rail and the inner surface of anabutmentshoulder on the-tie p ate; 1 I Ijig. 5- is a fragmentary'view shnilar-to Fig. 4, but

I illustrating 'a-slight modificatiomof -the'lower jaw of the clip designed to inorease; the vertical gripping pressure exerted onithe top of the railbase and on the bottomof thertie'plate; and

Fig 6;is a fragmentary view in elevation ofga -sideface elips fare formed. t

of the "metal stock r from which the above rail retaining {Referring first to lth'e embodiment, of

sl m'vvnfin Figs; 1, 2,13, 4 and --6 f10 designates ajtie plate supported on'the top surface. of a cross tiefllLjflTh base a han? at between a-pair ofabutr'nent shoulders 13+13., defining};

rail seat 14. Thewidth of the rail base and the distance between the aliutnientfshouldrsi 13-{13 of 'the plate are normally such' that aclearance '15 is rnaintained between' a the opposite edges of' -therail: base and the' a-djacent shoulders 13 of? the plate when the rail base poition is seated centrallyilon' said seat'14. -.:'The arnountlfof.rthe clearance 15 may varyislightly,';but it is" always present toadegree since itresults from the limit 'tolerance's mittedyimthe manufacture of. the railway rails.- and he substantially greater than i the width-of the -ra such as result when the forming surfaces of the rolls V used in forming the rails become worn. This sizing must also take into account the wearing of the rolls used in forming the spaced abutment shoulders of the tie plate and consequently slight reduction in the width of the rail seat 14. Ordinarily, the clearance 15 at opposite edges of the rail base is approximately 5 inch. The tie plate 10 as shown herein may be, and preferably is, the same in construction as the tie plate shown in my prior Patent 2,107,131. It is provided with a plurality of openings 16 for the reception of screw spikes 17 adapted to clamp the tie plate firmly to the top surface ofthe cross tie 11. It will be obvious, however, that square openings 16 may be formed in the tie plate if it is desired to employ ordinary cut spikes instead of the screw type of fastening means. The shoulders 1313 of the tie plate are preferably in the form of ribs which extend entirely across the plate and are of greater height than the edge thickness of the rail base. The bottom surface of the plate is formed with a recess or channel 18 for receiving the lower jaws 19-19 of a pair of rail retaining clip members 20. Preferably, the channel 18 is substantially the same width as the said jaws 19-19 of the clip 2i so that the vertical walls of the channel will serve as abutments for opposite edges of the clip members 2 20 for the purpose, which will be hereinafter explained. At the opposite ends of the channel portion 18 the plate is formed with slots 21- 21 which extend through the plate from the shoulders 13-13 to the outer edges of the plate.

The rail retaining clip members 20 are formed, in each case, from a metal blank of the configuration shown in Fig. 6. The blank may be sheared to the'desired Width from a high carbon spring metal plate formed with a thickened portion 23 providing each blank with a vertical shoulder 24 and aninclined face 25. The end 26 of the blank is bent into a relatively large loop portion 22, as shown in Fig. 4, the loop terminating at one end in a horizontal. portion which defines the lower jaw portion 19 of the clip. 7 The end 27of the blank is utilized to form the clip with an upper jaw 28 composed of a single arm. It is formed with terminal bends 29 and 30 and with an intermediate upwardly bowed portion 31. The terminal bend 29 bears'against a fillet 32 at the junction of the rail base 12 and the central vertical web of the rail; The vertical surface 24 of the blank provides a locking shoulder which snaps over and engages the inner face 33 of an adjacent shoulder 13 of the tie plate when the clip is forced into its applied position. In this position the in clined surface of the blank provides a flat bearing surface which exerts pressure against the top surface of the rail base adjacent a shoulder 13, Preferably, the upper jaw 28 of the clip has a length somewhat greater 4 1 jaw is pressed into tight clamping engagement bottom surface of the tie plate. 7

In the applied position of the clip the thickened portion thereof at the junction of the upper jaw 28 and the loop 22 is suificient to withstand the normally high stresses at this area of the clip, such stresses being due to upward flexing of the terminal end 29 of the upper jaw relative to the thickened portion at the bend 28. The width of the clip corresponds to the width of the channel 18 and the end slots 21.

In some instances only one spring may be used to clamp the rail base to the plate. In such case the pressure exerted lengthwise of the upper jaw 28 serves to press the rail base firmly against the abutment shoulder 13 at the opposite side of the rail'aud to resist lateral displacement of the rail toward the spring clip. However, it is preferred to use two spring clips for each tie plate wherever possible. In such case the pressure exerted lengthwise of the upper jaw 28 serves to hold the rail base portion centered on the seat 14 and provides forces for resisting the lengthwise creeping movement of a rail in addition to the vertical gripping force exerted by the clip on the top surface of the rail base and the bottom surface of the tie plate.

In the modified embodimentshown in Fig. '5, the lower jaw 19a of the clip is formed with an upwardly bowed portion 34 which is partially flattened when it is driven into wedging engagement between the tie plate 10a and the top surface of the cross tie 11a. The compression of the upwardly bowed portion 34 effects a slight elongation of the circular bend 22a and thereby increases the with the downward thrust of the upper jaw 28a against the top the blankshown in Fig. 6, has the same construction as shown in Fig r4, and functions in the same manner exthan the distance between the fillet 32 of the rail and the inner face 33 of the abutment shoulder :13 on the plate at that side of a rail so that when the clip ,is forced to its applied position, the curved configuration of the upper jaw is distorted, that is tov say the intermediate bowed portion 31 is compressed lengthwise of the jaw. compression of-the bowed portion 31 exerts pressure laterally against the fillet 32 of the rail base and against the vertical surface 33 of the adjacent abutment shoulder 13 of the tie plate. r r V The vertical spacing between the lower and upper jaws 19 and 28 of the clip is less thanthe combined'thickness of the tie plate and the rail base embraced. Consequently, the jaws are spaced apart in their applied posi; tion. The clip is driven or otherwise forced transversely of the rail over a shoulder 13 of the tie plate,'the final.

cept for; the additional vertical pressure exerted on the railbase as a result of the flattening of the bowed portion 3' 4 and the resultant greater thrust exerted'by the upper jaw 28a against the rail" base.

I claim:

l. A railway rail anti-creeper assembly comprising, in combination, a tie plate formed with spaced apart shoulders defining a seat for a conventional railway rail having opposed fillets at the junction of the base portion with the central web thereof, and means for securing the rail to the plate comprising a spring clip having single upper and lower jaws forembracing and vertically clamp ing together overlying portions of the rail base and the tie plate; the arm of the upper jawbeing formed at one end with a curved portion for bearing against one of said fillets and provided at the'other end with a vertically disposed loop and with a thickenedportion serving to stiffen said upper jaw at its junction with the loop and having snap lock engagement withan inner face of one of said shoulders of the tie plate, and the portion of the upper jaw intermediate said eurved end portion and said thickened portion being formedwith a series" of reverse bends normally compressed lengthwise of the jaw, when the'jaw is forced to its applied position; the lower jaw of the clip being formed with upwardly bowed portion at a location beneath the tie plate adapted to be partially flattened by forcing the lowerjaw between a bottom portion. of the plate and the top surface .of a cross tie on which the tie plate is supported, whereby the deflection of the bowed portion 'of the lower jaw elongates the vertical loop and thereby increases the thrust of the upper jaw against the top surface of the rail base. 2. An anti-creeper assembly as defined inclaim 1 wherein the said seat for the railis greater than'the width of the rail base and a second clip of like construction is applied atthe other-side of'ther'ail to clamp the rail base to the tie plate and to exert transverse pres. sure on the rail, whereby the combined pressures exerted by both clips maintain the rail base centered on the plate and resist lateral movement of the rail relative to the 4 plate.

References Cited in The file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS '6 Schwinn -1 Feb. 1, 1938 Kelly Ian. 14, 1941 Smithers Aug. 3, 1948 Parsons Oct. 5, 1948 Scholes Mar. 20, 1951 Arthurfet a1. June 10, 1952 

